Why is oil dependence a national security problem?

The U.S. accounts for a quarter of the world’s oil demand, yet it is has a mere three percent of global oil reserves. Consequently, the U.S. is heavily – and increasingly – dependent on foreign oil. Nearly 40 percent of all U.S. oil imports come from potentially hostile or unstable regimes. And 90 percent of conventional oil reserves are in these nations including ones that are sponsors of or allied with radical Islamists who foment hatred against the US. Buying billions of dollars worth of oil provides such nations the means to continue and gather strength in their war against the free world. Further, oil supply is vulnerable to terror attacks by jihadists who wish to break our economic backbone.

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